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timbre that is unlike what you usually get in modern piano sample libraries—it makes Yamaha and Steinway grands sound rather brash by comparison. The Luthéal Piano library is not cheap, but it’s unlike anything else out there, and that’s the real charm of RealSamples’ fantastic instruments from the annals of history.

U-He Filterscape (and Triple Cheese)
$129; www.u-he.com U-He stands for Urs Heckmann, whose fertile sonic imagination has brought us such marvelous software as the MoreFeedbackMachine2 delay/multieffects plug-in (reviewed March 2008) and the gorgeous

Zebra virtual instrument (February 2009). This time around, we’re turning you onto Filterscape... which is what you get when a very practical DAW need (filtering and eq) crosses Urs’s path! Filterscape is a multi-module effects processing plug-in that contains two state-variable filters, a 4-band parametric eq, and a delay. For triggered and sync-based effects control there are also four envelope followers, two LFOs, and two step sequencers to control various parameters in real time, not to mention extensive MIDI Learn capability. All of these modules are available in several different signal routings, some straightforward, others providing tricks like dedicating the eq and some envelope followers to the delay feedback loop. There are two Mix modules that allow level and pan control at various points in the signal chain (not just at the end), and they include a variety of panning modulation schemes that let you produce stereo motion without ruining level balance. Oh, and there’s a Randomize button if you’re feeling really adventurous... The two state-variable filters are worth an entire article (and weeks of joyous experimentation) on their own. We are used to talking about various types of filter behavior—lowpass, highpass, bandpass, and notch (band-reject). What’s cool about these filters is that they can blend the various filter types in real time, morphing between filter characters in response to outside control. The four filter types are blended on a circular palette, where a cursor ball is moved around to change their balance. At the center, the filter has allpass behavior (as on a phase shifter). Each filter has conventional cutoff, resonance, and overdrive controls as well. The eq can be set up as four peaking bands, two shelves and two peaks, a filter with a complex rolloff curve, or a series of bandpass filters. Not only do you get fine control with either a graphic user interface or familiar sets of knobs, but the eq also features a set of eight Snapshots, each of which stores a particular group of settings. You can quickly click between Snapshots, or morph through them smoothly by modulating the Snapshot number with an external control source for amazingly complex automated eq moves. If all that isn’t enough to stun you into a coma, check this out: when you buy Filterscape, you actually get three plug-ins, not just the one I’ve been talking about! FilterscapeQ6 is a simplified version that offers 6 fully parametric eq bands with full modulation control of all frequencies and gains, 4 envelope followers, and the full Snapshot system. And if mere effects processing isn’t enough to hot-start your engine, FilterscapeVA is a virtual synthesizer that adds a waveform generator to the front of this fantastic filter architecture, turning it into a playable instrument. How cool is that? If you think you’ve heard it all where unusual yet musical eq is concerned, head over to U-He’s website and check out Filterscape. You’ll soon have people scratching their heads and saying, “I don’t know how you did that, but it’s wicked!” Oh, and while you’re at u-he.com, pick up a few freebies; Urs enjoys offering great-sounding and useful little plug-ins free of charge. My current favorite is a virtual instrument called Triple Cheese, which uses tuned delays and comb filtering to generate rich complex synth sounds from the ethereally pretty to, well, cheesy. Yet another example of Urs’s wonderfully bent musical viewpoint, and you can’t beat the price!

Puremagnetik Devil07 and MalletPak One
$12 each or by subscription; www.puremagnetik.com Okay, I just had to wrap up this part of the Gift Guide with this offering, just because I may be the only magazine editor in the world who’s in a position to compare the software with the real thing! Diabolical Devices is a company in Tallahassee, Florida, that offers a circuit-bend rewiring of the fun-to-program but vanilla-sounding Roland TR707 drum machine. It includes switchable wide pitch control of most samples and a front-panel patchbay to rewire the 707’s innards and produce cool glitchy timbres. I have and love one, and I had a blast comparing it to Devil07, Puremagnetik’s sample-library version for Ableton Live, Native Instruments Kontakt, Apple Logic Pro, or Renoise. I tested the Live version. Longtime readers will know that Puremagnetik offers subscription and one-off downloads of high-quality sample libraries and virtual instruments, everything from pianos to modular synthesizers, acoustic bass to broken toys. Devil07 is one of its newest offerings, and features over 600 samples of the original TR-707’s 13 basic sounds, circuit bent and processed to heck. Organized into an Instrument Rack that lets you dial in the
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http://www.u-he.com http://www.u-he.com http://www.puremagnetik.com

Recording - December 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2011